A Powerful Combination

15-Minute Workout

May 21, 2003

Big Muscle Fast

There is no one simple exercise that gives you a complete full-body workout. But there is one complex exercise that can. Strength coach John Davies, author of Renegade Training for Football, calls this "The Bear," and it is. It's not for novices--and even experienced lifters may want to go through the moves with just a bar at first. If you can handle it, you'll boost your strength, size, and explosive power. It involves five moves using the same weight. Simple, really.

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The Bear

Do four sets of six repetitions of the Bear, 3 days a week. Vary the weight each workout so you use a load that's about 60 percent of the amount you can push-press one time in your first session, 40 percent in your second session, and 50 percent in your third session. (What's a push press? Hold a barbell at shoulder level in front of you, dip your knees, and explode upward, straightening your legs and pressing the bar over your head until your elbows lock.) Rest 2 minutes after each set, and rest at least a day between workouts.

• Dip your knees, shrug your shoulders, and, rising up on your toes, explosively pull the bar to chest level and "catch" it on your front shoulders by dropping under it into a partial squat, as you turn your elbows underneath the bar so your palms face up. Your upper arms should be parallel to the floor when the bar lands on your shoulders.

• Lower your body into a full front squat--or at least until your thighs are parallel to the floor--by pushing your hips back and bending your knees as much as possible. Keep your back slightly arched in its natural alignment.

• In one move, drive your feet into the floor and straighten your knees as you press the barbell over your head until your elbows lock.

• Pause, then lower the barbell behind your head and rest it on your upper back as you would when performing a squat.

• Lower your body into a full back squat--like the front squat, except for the position of the barbell.

• In one move, drive your feet into the floor and straighten your knees as you press the barbell over your head until your elbows lock. Pause, then return the barbell to the starting position. That's one repetition.

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